Boyd Gaming Rebounding As Casinos Reopen After Q2 Losses

Boyd Gaming had an expected slump in revenue in the second quarter, but things seem to be turning around for the company’s casinos as they reopen.

With the company’s 29 casinos nationwide closed during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, revenue in April through June of 2020 was $209.9 million, about a quarter of what it was in Q2 of 2019 ($846.1 million). It was the same story for every company as measures meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 meant that casinos shut down around the country in mid March.

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The Boyd Gaming casinos began coming back to life on May 20 when Delta Downs, Evangeline Downs and Treasure Chest, all in Louisiana, reopened. At present, 26 of Boyd properties have reopened, according to a news release from the company. Boyd has a presence in 10 states including 12 casinos in Las Vegas, nine of which reopened on June 4. Nevada casinos had a strict set of rules for reopening, as have other states, including social distancing, mask-wearing and cleaning measures.

Boyd Gaming Outlook For Rest of 2020

“While overall visitation and revenues are down, spend per visit is robust, and we have successfully streamlined operating and marketing expenses to drive margin gains of more than 1,000 basis points in both the Midwest & South and Las Vegas Locals segments,” Boyd Gaming President and CEO Keith Smith said in the release. “These positive operating trends are continuing into July, giving us confidence that we can sustain increased efficiencies in our operating model."

With total revenue down so much year-over-year in Q2, it’s no surprise that Boyd Gaming had an operating loss of $86.3 million from April to June this year, compared to an operating income of $126.7 million for the same period in 2019. For the six months ending in June, Boyd has lost $224 million in operating income, compared to $244 million in operating income in the first half of 2019. With the casinos shut down, total operating costs and expenses were much lower as well — $296 million in Q2 2020 compared to $719 million last year.

Smith also said Boyd Gaming has continued to expand and diversify, noting that the company “continued to expand our strategic partnership with FanDuel Group as we introduced an online casino product in the state of Pennsylvania.” Boyd Gaming is a 5% equity owner of FanDuel Group, which unveiled a standalone casino app in Pennsylvania in June.